1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an economically feasible procedure for extracting major amounts of protein from beef bones to produce an end product solution containing desirable 4-7% concentration of protein by weight, which end product has uses among others as a protein enrichment addition material for other food products.
The economic feasibility of the protein extraction process of the invention depends upon the combined use of crushed, edible beef bone as a raw material to be cooked, the addition of a predetermined amount of enzymes to water in which the crushed bone is cooked in a controlled ratio of bone to water by weight, and to the control of time and temperature conditions of cooking the crushed bone in the solution of water and enzymes.
The other facet of the economic feasibility of the procedure of the invention for extracting protein from raw edible beef bones is that fats and bone separated from the protein broth end product during treatment are edible and salable products. In this manner the raw edible beef bone treated in accordance with the invention produces without waste, gelatin bone, edible tallow or grease, and protein broth all three of which are edible or salable products.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Beef bones are known to contain protein. However, insofar as we are aware, no procedure for simply and economically extracting protein from beef bone has been known which results in the production without waste of three edible and salable products.
Various materials of animals, fish or fowl origin have been treated in the prior art to produce cattle feed, fertilizer, meaty-flavored broth, etc. These prior procedures utilize urea, special enzymes, starch, fat solvents, acid treatments, and two-stage treatments among others. Examples of such procedures are contained in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,717,835, 3,674,657, 3,692,538, 3,944,655 and 4,018,650.
Other procedures treat bones to provide gelatin bone using soluble salts and special enzymes without extracting protein as an end product, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,634,191.
The procedure and Examples described in the Moss U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,538 treats beef bones by the steps of heating beef bones in water for an extended time period at from 170.degree. F. to 280.degree. F., then separating the released fat from the aqueous mixture, then treating the aqueous mixture with enzymes, and then treating the aqueous solution of protein hydrolyzates with acid to adjust the pH value of the solution.
This procedure fails to recognize the fact that the initial heating for fat separation at from 175.degree. F. to 280.degree. F. results in producing peptones and peptides which impart an offalish and bitter taste to the protein solution, which in turn requires the subsequent acid treatment to eliminate such undesirable taste.
Further, the high temperature of up to 280.degree. F. for fat separation may thermally shock the bone and protein being cooked, which may prevent the bone from satisfying specifications for gelatin bone and thus prevent its salability as gelatin bone.
Further, the complicated Moss procedure, many steps, time and temperature of heating, etc. very substantially increase the cost of treatment, including high energy consumption and cost of chemical additives, such that the resulting protein solution may have a higher cost than is economically feasible where it is desired to use the protein end product as an addition to enrich other food products such as sausage products.
We are not aware of any prior simple means or procedures for economically extracting protein from beef bones to provide a simple edible and salable protein solution end product having a desirable 4-7% concentration of protein by weight, and which also results without any waste from the starting raw bones material in producing gelatin bone and edible and salable tallow or grease.